1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to radar systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to test apparatus for radar systems.
While the present invention is described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional modifications, applications, and embodiments within the scope thereof and additional fields in which the present invention would be of significant utility.
2. Description of the Related Art
Radar systems are currently quite sophisticated. A modern radar system may consist of numerous analog and digital circuits and subsystems arranged in functional modules in accordance with several design constraints and considerations. As higher levels of integration are achieved with each module, new and more sophisticated modules are required to keep pace with an ever increasing rate of technological development in this area. A considerable design and manufacturing cost is associated with these modules which is exacerbated by the fact that a radar system manufacturer may manufacture several systems and interchangeable modules for same.
As each radar system must be tested extensively, each module must be tested. Indeed, testing of a conventional radar system may require that several tests be run on numerous modules. For example, in a typical RF electronics module, one might conduct analog tests for gain and for proper operation of the attenuation controls, proper operation of the filters, adjacent signal discrimination, and so on. In an IF electronics module, numerous tests may be conducted in the analog and digital domains for downconversion accuracy and for several controls. In a transmitter driver module, numerous tests may be conducted in the digital domain for timing parameters. In an RF processor, tests may be conducted similar to those conducted in the RF electronics module with the exceptions that the tests would be at higher power levels and more switching would be involved. In a reference oscillator module and a local generator module, signal purity and noise level tests may be conducted.
Currently, to test a module, a test set must be designed specifically for each module. Changes in the design of the module or in the tests conducted on the module may necessitate a partial or complete redesign of the test set. The costs associated with the redesign of custom radar system test sets is considerable.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a versatile, reconfigurable radar system test set capable of conducting a wide variety of tests on a variety of modules.